I have headr a theory about Original Sin that I have to say makes me more than a little irritated. I blew it off the first time I heard it because it was a pastor I didn't care too much about and I didn't want to waste my indignation on someone who wasn't worth it. However, I also have heard this theory from a pastor who is not my own, but who I think is a smart, godly man.
I am willing to listen, but I am not of the mind that a pastor (whether you respect him or not) is the ultimate authority on God's word-they are fallible human beings just like we are. I don't think that God gives them special knowledge on his word or special wisdom- I think He gives them as much as they ask for and believe for Him to give. God gives us the same opportunity. That is not my main point, it is only to say that even after listening to this man I respect I was a little tight in the jaw. I won't say that it is a subject important enough to spend every post on, but I will say that it is more than just something I disagree with, I really think it implicates women.
When I listen to a pastor say the things like this theory it really negates any teaching that tries to say that women are not inferior (just need to be submissive); that women were made in God's image and are equal (but have "different roles");that women are priceless (not just a "weaker vessel"). Those teachings, which have a bitter taste to them already, are hard to swallow when you hear teachings such as "The Silence of Adam."
The gist of the theory is this: Adam sinned not necessarily because he ate of the fruit from the forbidden tree, but because he passively accepted the fruit and "listened to his wife."
I don't have a problem with the teaching that passive sin is still a sin-it is. The part that upsets me is that it was a sin because Adam listened to his wife . I have a problem that it was because he was supposedly not "man" enough to refuse her offer. I also have a problem with the subtle allusion to Eve (and, therefore, other women) being naive and, at the same time, deceitful or seductive. In this sermon, the pastor also said that "sometimes women just want to be told 'no.'" He said that they want boundaries. I am a woman, not a child. It seems as if the world, including Christians, treat women as a step barely above them, someone to be disciplined and guided because decisions are difficult for them to make. God has put us in place that I don't always understand, but we are not children and God does not place us in that role by any means.
